Anemone Won't Anchor

[xXTheWendigoXx]

I picked up a Sebae Anemone and a pair of clownfish about three weeks ago. The clownfish settled right in and the anemone seems to have acclimated in the sense that it continues to look very healthy, is stickier then duct tape, and is eating silversides.
Only trouble is that the anemone won't attach its foot to anything and as a result floats around the tank (especially at night) and I often find it sitting on one end or the other, upside down, with frantic clownfish circling it. I've notice that the base of the foot looks almost like there's been some sort of damage (it almost looks like scar tissue). The LT anemones and one Sebae I've seen peeled off of glass all appeared to have very smooth bottoms to their foot. I was wondering if when I bought the anemone, the employee who pulled it out of the tank might have damaged the foot detaching it from the display, not enough to kill it, but enough to damage the foot for the foreseeable future and make it difficult to anchor.
I know a torn foot is usually a death sentence for anemones, but I can't think of anything else that might do it. It was definitely attached to the bottom of the tank at the store. Anyone seen or heard of anything like this happening before?
I'll see if I can't snap a picture if it floats off and ends upside down again, though I think I've got it "caged" in a couple pieces of branch rock at the moment.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Floated off again, it's disgustingly tricky to try and take a picture of an anemone foot without squishing the poor thing.

[GreatWyte]

Very odd.
Anemones I have dealt with generaly anchor within minutes. And the only time they are not anchored are when you 1st introduce them or move them. They never stay where I want them, but they anchor. I have a ritteri now that is stuck on the front galss of my 48, so you get to see his foot all the time. I move him he eventually ends up back in that spot.
 I would suggest posing your question on the Anemone & Clownfish forum at Reef Central. You could then expose it to a larger audience of anemone keepers. Might get some feedback there.
Good luck

[reefer3737]

Dodd tought me to put them in a shell or a hollowed out rock.It workes out great for me.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Well, the consensus opinion I seem to be getting is that the odds are pretty stacked against this anemone making it. New question(s) become.

1. How do I decide an anemone is dead? Not dying, but dead.

2. How do I safely/humanely dispose of a dead anemone? Preferably without opening up the maelstrom and screaming fit that will ensue if it goes somewhere like the garbage.

[lazylivin]

Best way to dispose is flush it down the toliet.

[JSLeedy]

If you are worried about humane disposal put it in a container of tank water and put it in the freezer.  It's motabolism will gradually slow and it will die.  Then toss it in the trash.  Personally I would just through it away or flush it like Lazy said.

[Reefd Up]

That foot doesn't look good to me.  Granted, I don't have a ton of anemone experience.  Anemones usually only moved when under stressful conditions...meaning they can't find a place they like to live.  Just to double check, what are your lighting and flow parameters?  If an anemone is just lying on its side, has quit trying to move, and has given up hope, I would do as said above...and just freeze it.  However, if it's still eating...and it's still moving around to find a better spot...Keep trying!!!

[micki]

Does it still feel sticky?  If so I wouldn't give up just yet.

[reefer3737]

again if it is sticky leave it alone,sometimes they will look like pooo if they are about to split too.my bubble will look like it is dead for about a week then Ill see tow or more healthy bubbles

[xXTheWendigoXx]

I'm not giving up until the thing is clearly dying. I simply wanted to be prepared in case it began to suffer clearly so I could proceed humanely without having to ask and wait.
It has moments where it looks like its struggling and moments where it looks like a fully healthy and happy anemone (albeit held in place by a perimeter of rocks). As of a few minutes ago it is still sticky and it was still eating two days ago. Any movement (for the moment at least) is due strictly to water flow within the tank as its foot is still in pretty bad shape.
For reference, the tank is a 29g with a 150W Viper Clamp-on HQI. Between the filter and the powerheads there is about 900gph of flow.

[micki]

It sounds fairly typical to me.  I've had some I've scrapped off of glass, rock etc. and the foot looked fairly beat up but the anemone did fine. 

[bkvreef]

Well, the consensus opinion I seem to be getting is that the odds are pretty stacked against this anemone making it. New question(s) become.

1. How do I decide an anemone is dead? Not dying, but dead.

2. How do I safely/humanely dispose of a dead anemone? Preferably without opening up the maelstrom and screaming fit that will ensue if it goes somewhere like the garbage.

To answer your first question:  it will be obvious it will basically disintegrate when bumped.  You definitely don't want to wait until it gets to that point!  Nasty mess.

Good luck either way

[rayviv]

900GPH in a 29gal sounds like TOO much flow to me. But up front I'll say that you know I'm just a rookie. I know that no matter what I do my anemones make their own decisions on where to anchor. But I've noticed that its not a strong flow they want to stay in.

[Reefd Up]

30x turnover isn't unreasonable.  Many of the SPS tanks I've seen have toward 60x turnover.  But, you have to take into account each individual tank.  Lots of rockwork requires a higher turnover rate than a tank with less rockwork.  In my old 40g tank, I had almost 90x flow simply because of the amount of live rock. 

As far as what an anemone requires, I'm not sure.  30x should be fine...and if not, the anemone will settle where it wants to be. 

[rayviv]

It sounds different when you put it like that. Like I said, "Still a rookie"!

So if I have two pumps rated @ 900gph after head reduction with, say 200gal (tank/sump) my turnover would be 4.25x per hour ?? javascript:void(0);

[xXTheWendigoXx]

I'm pretty certain that my filter intake just solved any dilemmas and crushed any hope 
Thought I had it pretty well covered by rockwork but apparently not enough.

[slandis3]

man sorry to hear that.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

It sucks >__<
To really add insult to injury, one of the clownfish has turned on the other and chases it away if it comes ANYWHERE near the left side of the tank.

[ghurlag]

[Female clown to male clown]: This is all your fault!  You've been sneaking around, seeing that Royal Gramma, instead of working, and now we've lost our home!  We're through!